Youth Education Committee

Volunteers from the Eastside Audubon Youth Education Committee work with children of all ages in a variety of settings: schools, nature centers, parks, camps, festivals and fairs.

Classroom Workshops

The Youth Education Committee offers a variety of student workshops. All presentations are interactive, hands-on and can be adapted to the needs of students. They support Washington State's Essential Academic Learning Requirements. To inquire about a classroom workshop or to borrow the Bird Discovery Box, please phone the Eastside Audubon office at 425-576-8805, or email youthprograms@eastsideaudubon.org.

Bird Discovery Box for K–12 Teachers

Teachers may borrow the Bird Discovery Box, which contains lesson plans and the materials needed to teach them. Keep your students enthusiastic about nature with innovative and interdisciplinary projects and help them to reach Washington State's Essential Academic Learning Requirements. To request the Bird Discovery Box, email youthprograms@eastsideaudubon.org.

Included in the box are all of the materials (binoculars, field guides, magnifying glasses, CD of songs, feathers, etc.) necessary to teach the lesson plans. (Bird mounts are not included.)

Family Birding Walks

At various times throughout the year, we take families with children five years or older on leisurely walks, stopping to explore any natural object that captures the fancy of our participants — young and old. Check out Eastside Audubon's home page for details.

Brian Gershon College Scholarship for High School Seniors

For high school seniors from the Eastside of Lake Washington who have demonstrated a keen interest in the environment/nature. The application is available in both Word and PDF formats. Due March 31, 2019.

Amy McQuade Camp Scholarship

Eastside Audubon offers four scholarships to the Ground to Sound STEM Challenge Camp.

Campers conduct field studies to learn how saving Puget Sound starts in the woods, waters and trails surrounding the Center while working with their teams to learn about the natural environment. Contact Marie Hartford: mhartford@lwsd.org.

The camp is sponsored by Friends of the Hidden River and the Russell Family Foundation to inspire campers to become "stewards of the Sound through positive action for our local community."

Len Steiner Grant Fund for K-12 Teachers

The Youth Education Committee annually awards grants to teachers from schools with significant low-income populations. Funds are for the purchase of non-consumable materials for a unit or project geared toward science or the environment. Funds are awarded at the discretion of the committee. There is no application.

Resources for Teachers and Parents

Here you will find lists of the best places on the Eastside to see birds, fun activities for children, websites on birds and books for children and adults. View our resources.

About the Committee

The Youth Education Committee is a diverse group of volunteers. What unites us is a strong belief that children who connect to nature at an early age become lifelong stewards of the environment. Through our volunteer work, we hope to inspire youth to make this connection, to become lifelong learners of nature and to live lives dedicated to making the world a better place for all of us.

Would You Like to Help?

Make a difference in children's lives by volunteering with the Youth Education Committee. Help students at a science fair make bird feeders to take home. Assist a committee member with a classroom presentation. Join a work party to make bird buttons for the Swift Festival in Monroe. Take children on a walk to see and identify birds. These are just a few of the many ways you can volunteer to make a difference.

We promise lots of fun and a feeling of giving back to your community. If you cannot make our meetings, you can still volunteer. Email youthprograms@eastsideaudubon.org to learn more or to volunteer.

Join Our Team

We invite you to join our team and help us in our mission. The Youth Education Committee meets from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month (except August and December) in the basement of Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church in Kirkland at 308 Fourth Avenue South.